The Contenders
With Nairo Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali, Fabio Aru, Tom Dumoulin, Tejay van Garderen, Steven Kruijswijk and both of the Yates twins focusing on the Giro d’italia, it might appear that Chris Froome will face less competition as he tries for a fourth title.
Ivan Basso, however, is touting Spaniard Alberto Contador of Trek-segafredo as the man who might spoil Froome’s party. Contador has won seven Grand Tours – he might say nine – with his last one being the 2015 Giro. Although he took two stage race titles in 2016 and still races aggressively – take the final stage of this year’s Paris-nice, for example – he hasn’t looked strong enough to knock Froome from his perch.
In a February climbing showdown at the Ruta Del Sol, Contador looked very sharp, coming runner-up to Alejandro Valverde by a single second on final GC because El Pistolero was slower in the time trial.
With Geraint Thomas and Mikel Landa making their bids for Giro glory, Chris Froome (Great Britain/sky) might have a slightly depleted force with him in France, but he’ll still be able to assemble Wout Poels, Beñat Intxausti, Diego Rosa and Sergio Henao to do what Sky has done for half a decade: boss the race. Froome has taken two of his three titles by more than four minutes and looks ensconced on the Tour de France throne. He’ll wish there were more than 37 km to time trial in 2017, but he’s also a great climber, one with the uncanny ability to come back when dropped. Froome eased into his 2017 program in Australia with some bright moments, but early results aren’t important to Sky’s main man – it’s all about peaking for the Tour de France.
Nairo Quintana (Colombia/movistar) is Froome’s greatest rival. The Colombian finally took revenge for two Tour runner-up spots and 2016’s third to Froome with a well-deserved win over the Brit at the Vuelta a España. The taste of his second Grand Tour triumph still fresh in his mouth, Quintana decided to race the 100th Giro. This event will deplete him for the Tour; there’s a good reason no one has won the Giro/tour double since Marco Pantani in 1998. Quintana looked very sharp on his way to winning February’s Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and later March’s Tirreno-adriatico.
Richie Porte (Australia/bmc) received much early season hype about his Tour de France chances. He was imperious in claiming his first Tour Down Under title in January. He can count on support from Ben Hermans, Nicolas Roche and a strong bmc squad. Last year’s fifth in the Tour was his best ever Grand Tour result since his seventh at the 2010 Giro. Therein lies the problem with Porte – he has disappointed in the Grand Tours, having never won a stage and having never stood on a final podium.
Romain Bardet (France/ag2r-la Mondiale) is the great French hope now that Thibaut Pinot claims that he’s just after stage wins. Bardet was runner-up last season after also placing second to Froome in the Criterium du Dauphiné. Ag2r’s ace has won a Tour stage in each of past two years, both in the mountains. Bardet doesn’t have a very strong team, although rising Gallic star Pierre Letour will be his wingman. Bardet’s flat time trialling is a weakness; he lost time to nearly all his rivals in last year’s first race against the clock. He also isn’t a proven stage-race winner – his only triumph coming in the five-day 2013 Tour de l’ain. Nevertheless, the whole nation will be cheering for him. Esteban Chaves (Colombia/orica-scott) is the most exciting debutante in this year’s race. The cheerful Colombian was knocked into second place at the 2016 Giro by a rampaging Vincenzo Nibali. Later, Chaves captured third at the Vuelta. A fine climber, he’s also a fighter, as last year’s usurping of Contador’s final Vuelta podium spot showed. Trailing the Spaniard by 1:11 on the final day for GC movement, Chaves put 1:24 into El Pistolero on the race’s last mountain. Chaves was runner-up to Porte in January’s Tour Down Under.